Taping

[jerber1]

Question on taping before compounding or polishing. Should I go over door seam gaps, such as where a door and quarter panel meet, or open the door and go in between?

[allenk4]

Depends on what you are trying to accomplish.


If you are trying to protect the painted edges:

Getting aggressive with compounding...taping the edges off, does provide some additional safety.

For polishing, IMO, it is overkill as the likelihood of damaging the painted edge with less aggressive pads and polishes is greatly reduced.


If you just want to keep compounding dust out of the hinges and door jambs...tape to your hearts content. Opening the door and doing it from the backside will allow you to polish all the way to the edge of the panel.

Personally, I try not to buff over these gaps at all. I prefer to tape off the edge of the panel adjoining the one I am polishing to protect that edge. If you overlap the tape into the gap, it will prevent a lot of dust from getting in the gap.


Helpful Hint....when taping off window trim, make sure you cover where the window meets the trim. The velvet seal will sometimes hold on to compound and smear the window and possibly scratch it, when lowered and raised.

My $.02

[jerber1]

I will tape over the complete seal. thank you for the advice. my main worry is a tape line if i "join" both surfaces on the outside

[Goin Rogue]

I know there are no dumb questions but which is better to use: blue painters tape or automotive tape?

[allenk4]

When I have used Blue Painter's Tape in the past, I have NOT had excellent results.

I find that it leaves behind a lot of adhesive residue, especially if it is hot out.

I prefer the Green 3M Tape (233+). It is a little more expensive, but I feel it is worth it

It is available thru AGO and OTC at most auto parts stores

Buy the 18mm and the 2"

[allenk4]

I will tape over the complete seal. thank you for the advice. my main worry is a tape line if i "join" both surfaces on the outside

If you tape just the very edge of the panel; no one will be able to notice the very thin area at the edge of the panel that was not polished.

Unless you are compounding out sanding marks that go all the way to the edge...and I hope you are not. Mike Stoops, at Meguiar's, warned me once to remember that you have to plan on compounding everything you sand. It is much easier to put scratches into some same almost hidden area, than it is to go back in there and compound out the sanding marks.


If you are talking about creating a "Step-off" in the paint, where noticeably more clear coat was removed from one side than the other...that is more difficult to do than you might think...Unless, you are using very aggressive compounding methods, sanding, rotary. If you take a look at the 50/50 shots on the Forum; all of those were created by buffing all the way up to a tape line.

[Niblick]

great advise there, excellent posts AllenK4

[rbss]

I know there are no dumb questions but which is better to use: blue painters tape or automotive tape?

Use automotive I have some blue painters tape and it leaves alot of adhesive behind.

[Tacket]

Ironically I find blue painters tape from Harbor Freight to work really well. It's actually too low tack for real household painting chores, but just enough for auto work.